Chapin dock business extends hope to Asheville hurricane victims

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Rick Weber and his business partner Kenny Pike have run 360 Dock and Deck LLC in Chapin serving Lake Murray for the past 7 years.

“We do everything from floating docks, boat lifts, and gazebos,” Weber said from the driveway of his business on Wessinger Rd.

But on this day, an open trailer sits in the front yard of the business with a spray-painted neon cardboard sign leaning against it.

The sign reads, “Asheville Donations.”

Inside the trailer, Pike works to sort and stack pallets of water, paper towels, and other supplies for hurricane victims in the hardest hit areas of North Carolina.

Weber, Pike, and their families have made filling the trailer their mission in the wake of Helene’s wrath. Their new line of work is born out of compassion.

“My business partner Kenny and I were watching Facebook and seeing posts…

and seeing people trying to help. We decided to try to use some of the resources we have access to try to get some supplies up to Asheville and other surrounding areas that got impacted.”

The business collects water, diapers, paper towels, and other essential supplies at the Wessinger location on Old Lexington Road. They are also accepting donations. Weber and his team left Wednesday for their first trip to the disaster zone.

“We’re gonna load out all the trailers that we have, fill them, and try to take them up there,” Weber said before adding, “If there’s enough support, we’ll empty them and do it again.”

So far the Chapin community has responded, with a steady flow of people driving up to the warehouse and unloading their donated items.

For Rick and Kenny, they say something just kind of tugged at them urging them to act.

“We just kind of felt compelled to do it. We were without power for four days and it was an inconvenience. But these people lost houses, lost family members. We are just trying to do what we can,” Weber said.

Their service is inspiring the next generation. Pike’s daughter was helping her dad sort items, while Weber’s son also helped load supplies into the trailer.

“We have four kids,” said Weber motioning to his children standing nearby. “We live here in Chapin- and you know, we’re just trying to teach them the right thing to do. Trying to teach them to help your community.”

The impromptu supply drive was an idea that just took off, and started to grow via social media. With nothing more than a spray-painted sign and a couple of online posts, their supply drive is now a full-scale operation.

“We put this together 12 hours ago at this point. We have tons of money. We set up a Venmo. We didn’t even have a Venmo before this. We set up a Venmo to take money in and just buy things, so some of my employees are at Publix now, we’re at Walmart buying things. And we’ve got people driving up and down the street, just dropping things off. They’ve shared our posts in all the different groups so it’s been fantastic.

Now, these men who usually work with their hands building docks, are using those same hands to build bridges, delivering hope to those who need it most.

All by using what they had available, including their trailer and their time, to make a difference.

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